Where Do Wild Horses and Burros Live?

These two maps show the areas where wild horses and burros live IF they are on Forest Service or BLM lands. They are Federally protected by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 only if they resided on Forest Service or BLM lands in 1971. But there are other wild horse and burro herds. On islands off the Atlantic shore of the Eastern United States, there are herds such as Chincoteague and Assateague. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in North Dakota, has wild horses. Tribal lands, such as those belonging to the Navajo Nation, have many thousands of wild horses. None of these herds are protected by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which “Wild Horse Annie” worked hard to write, but they may be protected by other laws or the owners of those lands. You may have noticed that there are only 10 Western States where wild horses and burros are protected. And you may have wondered why the State of Washington does not have wild horse or burro areas. There were many wild horses in Washington, and still are, belonging to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation. If you suspect that people may have eliminated wild horses from BLM and Forest Service lands before the Act was passed in 1971, so they wouldn’t have to manage them, you are exactly right. Now you are beginning to see the problem.